* * *
JEREMIAH TRIED TO keep his eyes on the road, but his gaze was continuously drawn to the woman only a few feet away. He’d been failing miserably at self-control since the moment she walked into baggage claim in that sexy, curve-loving skirt and heels that made him want to drop to his knees and worship her legs. There were a lot of things he’d like to drop to his knees and do to her, in fact.
He focused back on the present, trying to stop those thoughts. They were exactly what he couldn’t let himself get caught up in this week if he wanted to survive.
He glanced at her again. Instead of thinking about the way her shirt moved against her breasts as she shifted in her seat, he tried to think of something to say to her. Her mood had switched from silly to thoughtful in a matter of seconds, and he wasn’t sure what he should do. For a guy who’d always felt so confident around women, this was a new one on him.
He grabbed at some new topic of conversation. Anything to keep her talking. “It’s nice of you to fly in a week early to help your sister. According to Aaron, she’s been fighting off a state of panic for the past week or so, worrying that things won’t be ready in time.”
Renee nodded, as if this wasn’t new information. “She’s always been the anxious one. She wouldn’t be Jessica if she wasn’t worried. Really, though, it should be Cindy here. She’s always been the enthusiastic, creative one. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to help much, but with the pregnancy and all, Cindy couldn’t take that much time off from work.”
“If Jessica’s the anxious one and Cindy’s the enthusiastic one, what are you?” He wasn’t sure if he was prying, but he just had to know more about her.
She paused, thinking. “I guess I’m the focused, driven one.”
Jeremiah tried to read between the lines. “Is that code for ‘workaholic?’”
Renee gave him a small smile. “Pretty much.”
“And what else are you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think that’s about it.”
He could think of some other adjectives that described her, but didn’t say them out loud. He wasn’t sure if she even realized she was the funny one, the sexy one, the dear-God-I-wish-she-was-in-my-arms-right-now one.
He tried to think of something else to talk about. Normally he’d be fine with silence, but silence around her made him want to say and do things that were all on the “terrible ideas” list. At least when they were talking, he could focus on their conversation instead of on the way her hair fell across her shoulders and that one darker freckle just below her left ear.
Lucky for him, she seemed just as willing to keep up continuous chatter as he was, and the rest of the drive passed quickly while she described her favorite things about New York, asked questions about her sister’s life in Texas and told him about her job.
“It’s not a sure thing yet, but the lead designer spot would be amazing. I’ve been working toward that exact position since high school. It’s my dream job.”
He glanced at her out of the side of his eye, even though her face was already indelibly printed in his mind. She couldn’t possibly be older than twenty-eight. “You’ve managed to land your dream job before turning thirty? Is that some kind of a record?”
Renee smiled and her eyes lit up, changing her face from beautiful to stunning. “I’m younger than a lot of people on my team, but I have just as much experience as pretty much anyone there if you look at the work I’ve done. I usually pick up a few extra pages each issue, and my work hardly ever needs to be retouched. I don’t think my age will matter.”
“I guess you were right about being the workaholic one.”
“That was your word,” she pointed out. “I said I was the focused one.”
Jeremiah was impressed, but something about her dedication to her job sent up an alarm. “How do you manage to do all that and still have fun? Doesn’t it make it hard to relax, take vacations, date?”
Jessica had mentioned at one point that Renee was single—Jeremiah was sure she had no idea how that offhand comment had affected him—and he’d been perplexed as to why. Now he was beginning to suspect the reason.
“I don’t really have the time for that kind of stuff. My job is too important to me and I wouldn’t want to screw that up because of those types of distractions.”
Renee’s shrug seemed casual, but her voice sounded very serious to him. Jeremiah wondered if she was sending him a message between the lines. If she was, he got it loud and clear.
Even though he’d known from the start that there would be no dating this woman, here was yet another example of why he needed to let go of all the little fantasies and quit mooning over her.
For a guy who was normally so great at looking on the bright side of things, he couldn’t seem to find the silver lining for this one.
Relief swept through him as he drove up to Jessica and Aaron’s house. He’d made it through the entire drive without saying or doing anything inappropriate, and now he could try to keep his distance and avoid being alone with her for the rest of her visit. Once she went back to New York, it would probably be years before he saw her again.
He didn’t enjoy that thought.
He parked on the side of the large yellow ranch house, angling the truck so it would be easy to empty the wedding contents from the back. After turning off the engine, he shifted to look at Renee, who had turned her body toward him, as if she wanted to say something.
“Thanks for the ride, Jeremiah,” she said, and he looked into her eyes deeply for the first time since they had left the airport.
It was no problem.
Anything for Jessica’s sister.
That’s what you do for friends.
All of the correct responses died in his throat. There was only one way he wanted to answer her, and before he knew what he was doing, he leaned across the small distance between them and pressed his lips to hers, his hand grazing across the soft skin of her cheek.
It took him less than a second to realize how awful that decision was, but then she pressed back into him, parting her lips and tilting her head, her urgency matching his. Any self-control he could have used to pull away dissipated when her tongue slid against his, sending tendrils of heat through his entire body.
His hand slid from her cheek down her neck, slowly inching lower. Before he could fall deeper into the kiss or his hand could move past her collarbone, though, she leaned back, separating from him. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes wide, and he realized what had just happened. He rubbed his hand across his face and tore his eyes away from her, checking to be sure Jessica was nowhere in sight. Dear God, he’d kissed her. How could he have been so stupid?
Still, he couldn’t help but feel excitement course through him. She had kissed him, too. He looked at her again. She was shaking her head, her eyes closed, her hands covering her face.
“I’m so sorry—” he began.
“That was so bad,” she moaned, cutting him off.
He grimaced. “The kiss was bad?” he asked, unable to help himself.
She shook her head even more furiously. “The kiss was too good. That’s what makes it so bad.”
Jeremiah knew he should feel awful, but he was happier than he’d been in a very long time. Just to be sure, he asked, “So you liked the kiss?”
She looked at him through her fingers. “That’s not helping. There’s no way we can do that again. Jessica will flip if she finds out. She doesn’t take unexpected new information well, and this is her wedding week. A curveball like that might send her into seizures.”
Jeremiah